Kisaragi Hiding
by Valhalla Time
Summary: All Momo wanted was to have a relaxing weekend; to have one of the few times she ever went outside to not be harsh for once in her life. But of course, it was not to be. Her constitution sucked, after all. / Reverse!Kisaragi Attention for Touketsu Project.


**Hey there! Woo hoo, a brand new fic! Been a while hasn't it? XD**

 **Really excited to finally be starting a new story and thus be delving deeper into the story than before. I hope everyone who's been reading will find this one to be just as good. Thank you all for the support once again, wouldn't be able to keep going or work as fast without it.**

 **Without further a do, let's start, shall we? :)**

* * *

 _February 15, 9 Years Ago_

* * *

 _One day, amidst the harsh cold of winter, a child called out to an adult._

 _"Daaaaaddy, can't we skate for a little bit longer?"_

 _Tugging on his sleeve persistently, the young girl giggled when the man bent down to blow a puff of foggy air into her face._

 _"Believe me when I say that I'd love to Momo, but I think your mom would get mad at us if we stayed here any longer."_

 _"Hmmm, yeah..." she pouted._ 'Mommy can get a little scary when she's angry.'

 _She could remember many times when her father had called her mother 'strong' and 'tough' and 'hardcore'. He had also called her 'badass' once before, which he had said was another way to say all three! But then strong/tough/hardcore Mommy had gotten upset and told him not to say 'bad words'. It had confused Momo a little_ ( _"Of course it's a bad word! It has the word 'bad' already in it!"_ ) _but nevertheless, she had still promised Mommy that she would never say it again either._

 _Right now, though, her daddy was not saying any of those words and was sitting down on the snow and removing his skates instead, much to Momo's dismay. She made no moves to take off her own skates and kept standing up stubbornly._

 _"It won't be that long Daddy, I promise."_

 _Pausing his gloved hands in the middle of untying the skate lace, Daddy scratched his chin. "I see... well, what about your brother then? We wouldn't want to keep poor Shintaro waiting at home longer than we said, would we?"_

 _"Of course not!" Momo clapped a hand over her mouth in horror at the thought. Her older brother had gotten sick with a cold earlier, probably from all the playing outside in the snow they had done yesterday (which had also been her birthday!) It was the reason that he hadn't been able to come skating with them, along with Mommy who had stayed home to take care of him._

'Even though I was sad that he couldn't come, I still want Big Brother to get better as fast as possible and being lonely will only get in the way of that. Besides, it was my fault he got sick in the first place,' _Momo thought guiltily and considered taking her skates off after all._

'...but still,' _she thought for better or for worse as the selfishness inside her mind sprung back up and out of control, '_ I want to skate a bit longer. Just a little more. That's all.'

 _"Of course I want to see Big Brother soon, especially because he's sick... but wouldn't he also want us to have as much fun here as we can? I'm sure he'd understand."_

 _By then her father's skates had come off and were being replaced by big, dark, adult shoes. While she knew her dad was definitely a big adult, he was not dark at all. How could he, with the bright orange hair that was poking from under his winter hat (matching her own hair squashed under her earmuffs) and the amused smile he was giving her?_

" _Al_ _right then, how about this: look around you Momo." He gestured out into the air around them and pointed towards the horizon. Momo's eyes followed his finger and she surveyed the snowy white landscape, the frozen pond, and the whole sky._

 _The whole_ darkening _sky. Uh-_

 _"Hasn't it gotten late? If we keep skating now, by the time we stop it'll be too dark to go home at all. It'd be bad for us to get lost, ne? Mommy and Shintaro would definitely worry about us."_

 _-oh. He was right, it was getting dark; from what she could see the sun was already halfway behind the clouds and the moon was just beginning to appear. At this rate, by the time the moon was fully out, the sun would be completely hidden behind the clouds and the moon would lose their game of hide and seek!_

 _(Even though her brother had told her that that wasn't what really happened each day and night and he was never, ever wrong about anything ever, Momo still liked to pretend that it did.)_

 _"Y-yeah, I guess it would be... but, but-"_

 _Despite all of the very good reasons her father had given her that they should go home, Momo's desire for one more round on top of the frozen pond only burned stronger, reducing her counter-reasons into desperate, childish pleas._

 _"-but, just_ please Daddy? _Only one more round? I really, really want to. I won't ever ask for anything else again, so_ _ **pleeeeeeease**_ _?"_

 _Daddy tapped his chin and made a "hmmmm" sound, obviously very, veeeeery deep in thought. Eventually, he sighed and patted her head. Momo gasped in happiness; she knew from experience that this was a sign that he had caved in._

 _"Alright sweetie, give me a minute to put my skates back on and we'll go for just one more round."_

 _"That's okay actually. You don't have to; I'll just go by myself."_

 _"Huh?" He blinked down at her, surprised. "Y_ _ou've only just learned how to skate by yourself, it'd be safer if I go with you."_

 _"I'll be fine! That's exactly why I wanna go alone, so I can prove that I already know how to," she said, already teetering away on her skates back to the iced-over pond. Her father scrambled over to try and reach her before she got there._

 _"W-wait a second, stop-"_

 _"It'll be faster if it's just me anyway! Didn't you say that you wanted to go home soon?"_

 _"Well yes, but would you just wait a moment Momo-!"_

 _"But Daddy-"_

"Momo, wait."

 _With a tone that made him sound a lot more adult than he usually ever was (almost as strict as Mommy!) he was catching up and just about to close in, sending a sense of panic onto his daughter._ 'Why is it so hard to walk with ice skates! on?' _she wailed in her thoughts. The moment she felt his hand firmly grab her small one, Momo understood deep down that she would have to use her very last resort in order to get what she wanted, despite how much she wished otherwise._

 _She allowed herself only one remorseful thought_ ('Sorry Daddy, but you've given me no choice!') _before she scrubbed any lasting bit of guilt away. Swinging back around, she unleashed her most secret, extremely dangerous, yet undeniably fail-proof weapon._

 _"~_ _ **Pretty please Daddy?**_ _~"_

 _Pleading with the sweetest voice, puffing out the rosiest cheeks, and looking up with the shiniest eyes, she hit her father full force with the cutest, most innocent-looking face she could create. Momo didn't care at all if it blinded him._

"..."

 _Aons passed as the stare down between father and daughter only intensified. Mr. Kisaragi had plastered on a hard, stern-looking face to counter his daughter's staggeringly cutesy_ _one_ , _and to Momo's horrified surprise, it wasn't faltering at all like she thought it would by now. Had he finally learned how to resist it like her mother could? If he had, then she was done for. Plan ruined. Game over. End of everything... gahhh_ , _she could already feel her line of attack beginning to crack._

 _'_ Keep it up, keep it up!' _she chanted to herself and speedily added an extra tremble to her pout._

 _Thankfully, just as she could sense her face beginning to break from a cuteness overload and her chances of winning the battle were just about to disappear-_

 _"...pfffft."_

 _-she had already won the entire war._

 _"You really are lucky that I'm not your mother, aren't you?" Her dad chuckled into his gloves, effectively breaking down his austere mask and not looking at all mad about it. "Once again you've defeated my defense. Alright then, go ahead_ Momo-chan, _but only for one more round. I'm going to go get our things from past the trees, so be done by when I get back, okay?"_

 _The little girl dropped her own constructed mask upon hearing his words and (despite the twinge of disappointment that he wasn't staying to watch) naturally beamed up at him in pure delight._

 _"Okay! Thank you_ , _Daddy." She gave his waist a quick hug before twirling around to continue her waddle to the frozen water. The feeling of triumph was so strong that she almost didn't hear the "Be careful and stay near the sides!" her father had called out behind her._

 _Within no time at all Momo was back on the ice, gliding across the pond like a professional ice skater again. But now she was skating on her own without any adult help, and wow, was the feeling_ _ **incredible.**_

 _The feeling of freedom, the sensation of being alone... there was just something to it, something she just couldn't help but savor. It was ironic really; there was no doubt that Momo loved her family and friends (well, the very few she had at least) very much and would normally get annoyed when she was ignored by anyone. But for right now, right now during this short circle around... it was like she was the center of attention to the entire world even though no one was watching._

 _Sighing, Momo closed her eyes just a little as she floated across the gleaming surface, somehow not tripping or making any mistakes at all like her normally clumsy self would. The soft hum of the air was quiet, the wind blew past her in calm wafts of cold, and the orange sky was lazily re-painting itself a deep red._

'If I was an adult like Daddy and Mommy, I'd stay here skating even if the sky had already turned black,' _she thought wishfully as she curved around the edge of the pond._

 _Speaking of that, oh no, it looked like her one round was only a few more leg pushes from being over; she could see the exact spot where she had started from getting closer and closer. The sight brought a frown to Momo's face and she slowed down considerably, trying to stall the moment when she would have to get off the ice as much as possible._

'I already got what I wanted, didn't I? What more skating could I need? One round's enough, it's a pretty big pond after all, almost a lake! I'm just being selfish. Right?'

 _The seven-year-old pondered and wondered over and over, trying to reason with herself and find an excuse to stay on the ice. It had gotten to the point that she was literally skating around in even smaller circles, stalling even then._

'I'm really not that smart, am I?' _she lamented. Big Brother would have figured this all out before she could even snap her fingers, not can do that yet..._

 _"Aughhh," Momo groaned and bonked herself on the head with a mittened hand, halting her skates and coming to a full stop._

 _'_ Come on, think of something Momo! Mommy said that this might be the last time it'll be cold enough to skate at all, so do something to make this last round count even more.'

'Hnnnnnn...'

'...oh wait, did I skate to the very middle of the pond yet?'

 _The answer, coming in like a light bulb over her head, was no, she hadn't. While he usually had no problem with it, today Daddy had told her to stay near the edges of the pond only and wouldn't let her go too close to the middle even when he was skating with her earlier. He had said that it wasn't safe because of how warm it was getting, even though Momo didn't really understand why. If the edges were fine, why not the center? There was no way it would just break right? It baffled her to no end, just as what most of the things adults said usually did._

 _But even so! Momo was a good, obedient child who didn't do bad things, never broke rules and always listened to any warnings her parents told her... except that she really, really did love going to the middle (it offered the best space to spin around!) and it might be the very last time she could go until next winter... and surely if it was only herself going then nothing bad would happen... and it would only be for a moment... and her dad surely wouldn't see because he was still far away getting the big bag they carried their skates in... and and and-_

 _Before she really even knew it, she had already skated right smack in the center of the icy pond. Looks like she hadn't been thinking before she acted, something her mother always admonished her for._

 _('Impulsive_ ' _was what she had been called, Momo remembered from the last time she had tried to climb up a tree to say hello to a bird, fell out and promptly landed on Big Brother who had come running over to catch her in panic.)_

'Um, oops... ehehehe?' _she muttered guiltily to herself, actually relieved that her father hadn't stayed to watch her. Feeling incredibly naughty and mischievous at the same time, Momo knew fully well that what she was doing would definitely land her in massive trouble again. However, just as she was about to head back to the sides, she couldn't stop herself from doing a single cautious spin._

 _Then a second, more lively one._

 _And a third, much wilder one._

 _A fourth one, a fifth, sixth._

 _Another, another, another until she was positively spinning up a hurricane of glee._

"Hehehe, whee!" _she tried to whisper out her joy so that no one would hear and scold her._ 'Why was Daddy so worried? Nothing bad's happening; this is awesome!' _she thought, once again finding herself unable to understand the world of adults in the slightest._

 _After a few more tricks and hushed laughing fits, Momo had finally (FINALLY) tired herself out. Deciding that she was now truly ready to go back home to her family, she began to skate to the shoreline. Luckily, Daddy still wasn't back yet so. He wouldn't even know she went to the middle at all!_

'Fufufu,' _she snickered inside her mind space. With nothing but_ _satisfaction with how the day had gone inside her heart, Momo sped up her pace a tad, almost impulsively._

 _...strange, was it just her or did the patch of ice she was on suddenly feel a bit uneven, rough, weaker than before...?_

 _The worrying observation fleeted for only a second before she brushed it away, although she did start to skate even faster, definitely impulsively. Still, the little scary thought - the alarm bell - in the back of her thoughts remained and ringed no matter how she tried to ignore it._

 _'_ Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going...'

 _Until._

Crack.

 _Momo went still the instant she heard the sound, freezing over just like the ice underneath her. Her neck (the only part of her body not paralyzed by fear) bent down shakingly in order to let her look down. Steadily, the shaking climbed down her shoulders and into her hands._

 _The ice around her, in front of her, underneath her was breaking._

"..."

Crack, crack.

Oh no.

 _The wind blowing around her no longer seem so calm but dreadfully ominous instead. Primal fear had wrapped itself around her neck, strangling her. The shaking shot down like wildfire into her feet and ankles._

Crack, crack, crack.

 _"D-Daddy..._ " _she whispered out weakly, her petrified eyes not looking up from the dark, cackling crevices that only kept on growing larger by the beat._

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

 _"DADDY! DADDY HELP ME!"_ s _he shouted out desperately and scanned the snow-covered land for him. Instinctively she searched for any signs of the bright red scarf he always wore in winter, forgetting that he had lent it to Shintaro earlier to help him get better._

 _"HELP! I'M RIGHT HERE! NOTICE ME!"_

'Where is he?!' _Momo thought in panic as the fracturing ice crawled and spread around her in taunting circles._

'That's right, he went to get our things,' _she remembered as the crumbling surface started to sway and rise and fall, allowing the dark water below to peak through, unsteadying her balance enough that she tumbled onto her knees painfully. The soreness of the sharp ice and the aching realization that absolutely no one was around at all signaled tears to start falling down her cheeks._

'He's not going to come. Mommy and Big Brother are at home. No one's going to come and save me.'

 _Perhaps being alone wasn't so great after all, Momo cried as she regretted going to the stupid middle and for wanting to step onto the ice again in the first place. For once in her short (and as it looked to be, almost over) life, she understood adults and their warnings. She closed her eyes as the evil crackling underneath her grew louder, deafening,_ _ **thunderous**_ -

" _ **MOMO!**_ "

 _"Daddy...?"_ s _he gasped at the yell in the distance, her father's voice cutting through all of the deathly noise like an arrow, shocking her eyes wide open. She tried to make her wobbling legs stand up again, only for her to slam right back down as the ice shifted much more violently and more chunks broke off. Whimpering in pain, she pushed herself up more carefully, just in time to see her father burst out of the trees at breakneck speed._

 _"I'm here! What happene- oh my god,_ MOMO STAY STILL! DON'T YOU MOVE AN INCH, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!"

 _If he was running fast before, he had become an actual speeding bullet now. Momo could only hiccup tears and snot and stare at him as he leaped onto the ice and started sprinting towards her, his arm outstretched and ready to bring her to safety._

'He's probably really mad at me,' _Momo couldn't help but automatically worry even though his expression held nothing but a parent's desperation to save their child._ 'But that's okay. Soon I'll be on land with him and we'll go home and be with Mommy and Big Brother and it'll be fine. It'll all be fine. Everything will be fine.'

 _(Except, of course, it would never be.)_

 _Just as Momo was beginning to relax from that glimmer of hope and prepared to call out to him (which would consist mainly of apologies at how dumb and stupid and sorry she was), stretching out her own hand to meet his when he finally got to her, the decaying, rotten, dead ice that had just barely been keeping its pathetic self together finally let out its very last_ **CRACK** _and shattered, taking Momo right down with it._

 _"D-DAD-!"_

 _Falling past the ice and plunging right into the brain-killingly freezing water below, she wasn't even able to scream as every bit of it filled up her jacket, forced down its way down her lungs and drowned out her life from the inside out. Within a few petrifying moments of helplessly thrashing for just_ one more _breath of air, her whole body had numbed, leaving her powerless to stop the omniscient-like water from pulling her all the way down to the bottom._

'-dy, Mommy, Big Brother. I'm sorry, sorry sorry sorry. Please help me, save me, notice me.'

 _The blood-red sunset shining from above the dark blue depths was the last thing she saw as the bubbles stopped flowing from her mouth and the thoughts left her brain, nothing but cold, all-consuming darkness enveloping her as Momo Kisaragi closed her eyes and wished._

* * *

 ** _[Someone, anyone, everyone, please notice me.]_**


End file.
